Daily Trials
by Pawn of Pawns
Summary: Assorted drabbles between 100 and 500 words. Potential Het, Gen, Yaoi and Yuri inside. Finally updated. And name changed cause I felt like it.
1. Why Regina Wears Gloves

**Why Regina Wears Gloves**

The applause from the audience still rings in her ears as Regina walks to her dressing room. She is still flush from excitement and her hands tremble from excess adrenaline.

Her dressing room shuts out most the noise and she catches her breath against the door. She doesn't think she will ever get over the feeling of performing. Even if the world isn't full of fantasy and wonder, for a few minutes every night, she is.

Slowly, Regina starts to undress, starting by taking off her long elbow gloves. They are her favorite color of pink and are covered in sparkles. Although they are very pretty, they serve a purpose too.

She peels back the fabric, revealing old, mending scars next to fresh, violent wounds covered in gauze. When she unwraps the bandages intricate patterns appear on her arms as complex as any tattoo. Long has Regina known there is a price for her line of work, but only recently has she realized how steep that price can be. Although skin mends, some things never heal.

The pads of her thumbs and palms are calloused from constantly handling a whip. Her petite, girlish hands are disfigured by bites and cuts, and no matter how often she cleans them, dirt always lodges itself under her nails.

Regina takes a moment to study her hands against the light. These two hands have seen more action than most hands their age. They have held monkeys, tamed tigers, and played with lion cubs. They recall the silky feel of Leon's fur and the rough texture of Bat's scarf.

She and her hands have been through a lot together, good and bad. She wouldn't trade them for a thing in the world.


	2. Happily Ever After

Miles Edgeworth doesn't believe in fairy tale endings. He has learned the hard way that life continues after the story ends. Life changes, challenges and eventually kills all those who live it. There is no "Happily Ever After" to it.

Miles returns from his hiatus a hero, finally defeating Wright and saving the day for the prosecution. Fairy tales never mention the fear and unease experienced afterwards. How whenever Wright smiles at Miles, he feels his heart knock against his chest and his face heat up, and how he wonders if the blush is apparent. How Miles' skin tingles when their hands touch by chance. How he has to suppress every signal his body gives him because logic tells him it will never work.

The fairy tales never describe how it feels to have the world crashing down around you.

Wright emerges from the court room, victorious again, and he cannot contain his excitement. He grabs Maya and pulls her in for a kiss.

It feels as if someone has just punched Miles in the gut. It's not a chaste kiss between friends, but deeply passionate. Everyone in the lobby smiles at the young lovers, some whistle. Miles has to turn away, breathing deeply through his nose and shaking uncontrollably.

He had no idea they were together. Why hadn't they told him? Why did he have to find out this way? He silently curses the irrational part of him that still hoped, which makes this so much harder to see. From the corner of his eye he sees Gumshoe watching with concern, but thankfully the detective remains silent.

Luckily Miles, a pro at concealing his emotions, regains his composure by the time Wright comes over and joyously claps a hand on his shoulder.

"You've done it again, Wright. Congratulations," Miles says. He doesn't even attempt to smile.

"Thanks," Wright says, oblivious and beaming. He's smiling that cavalier smile that makes Miles weak in the knees.

They shake hands and suddenly Miles realizes that Phoenix is the hero after all. He is the prince in shining armor who wins the girl and defeats the evil prosecutor. The villain never gets a fairy tale ending, Miles thinks.

Maya sneaks up besides Wright and slyly grabs his hand—an endearing movement that makes Miles' eyebrow twitch. She is still flushed pink from the kiss.

"We're going out to celebrate! Come with us, Mr. Edgeworth!" she says. The happy couple grins at him, and Miles wants to die.

"Not tonight, I'm afraid. This case has left me quite exhausted, and some of us still have work to do in the morning," Miles says elegantly. He knows that as soon as he gets away from their eyesight his façade will shatter into a million pieces.

The villain takes his leave. He sulks away to lick his wounds, but will return again someday to take revenge on fair maiden and valiant prince.

Miles Edgeworth doesn't believe in happy endings.


	3. Kiss to Make it Better

"Do you want me to kiss it to make it better?" Jack asked, a devilish smile on his face and a cold diet cola in his hand.

Will was looking bashful as usual, his ring finger wrapped in ice. He hadn't said anything about spraining his finger until it became too swollen to hold his spear. He remains silent as Jack lifts his hand and gently brings his lips to the wounded finger, kissing it as lightly as butterfly wings.

"Feel better?" Jack asks.

"No," Will admits. But then he smiles and says in a quiet voice, "but thank you."


	4. Watch Out for that Tree

"Back up slowly – I said **slowly**!"

Edgeworth grabbed onto the dashboard to steady himself as the car jolted backwards and ran over another cone.

Phoenix peered into the rearview mirror.

"I think I killed it," he said.

Edgeworth sighed. He'd been trying to teach Wright how to drive all afternoon, and still no progress had been made.

"Let's try again," Edgeworth said, although he had long been ready to give up.

Phoenix hit the gas, only to realize he hadn't taken it out of reverse. The car jumped out of control, swerved, and slammed into something. The seatbelt cut into Edgeworth's chest, the only thing keeping him in his seat.

Edgeworth rubbed the back of his neck. If he got whiplash, he would sue Wright. He got out of the car to inspect the damage. The bumper was dented and the paint had been scraped off. Edgworth knew it had been a good idea to use Gumshoe's car.

"Wright…how did you manage to hit a tree in the middle of a parking lot?"

Phoenix grinned bashfully as he also climbed out of the car. "It must have been in my blind spot."

"You're never going to get your driver's license," Edgeworth said dryly.


	5. Classics

The windshield wipers did not so much clear the water away as they did smear it around. However, Gumshoe was not paying as much attention to his viewing conditions or the road as perhaps he should have been, and he was instead fooling around with the radio dial.

Gumshoe might not have seemed as classy a guy as, say, Edgeworth was, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the importance of music. Even while driving, there was always a perfect song to go with a mood. Especially while driving for Gumshoe since his best sound system was his car. Problem was, he was having a hard time finding it. He spun the dial around again, only for it to land on some popular station all the kids were listening to. He couldn't understand why it was kids listened to this mumbo jumbo now-a-days, like all that chanting the Fey girls listened to, it was over his head.

He turned the dial again, only for it to land a station playing an old band called Good Charlotte. They used to be popular way back when Gumshoe had been in high school, but he never really cared for them then, either. In fact, he had ruined many a date with a teenaged girl cause he didn't agree with her taste in music.

Another swirl of the dial and finally it landed on something Gumshoe could appreciate. Mick Jagger's scratchy voice came from the speakers and demanded shelter from the coming storm. Now this was real music. Everyone else could keep their stuffy classical music, their punk music and their chanting, just so long as there still one station left playing the Beatles, the Doors and other classics for him.

"_War, children, it's just a shot away, it's just a shot away._"

Satisfied with his choice of station, Gumshoe turned his attention to the road just in time to see the car suddenly stop in front of him. However, Clearance Clearwater's Bad Moon Rising started playing, so he hardly had time to think about his near accident. He pulled around the stopped car and drove off into the rain.


End file.
